Three installations that explore connections between whakapapa and raranga (Maori weaving) make up Dr Maureen Lander’s exhibition Flat-Pack Whakapapa.
Now on at Tairawhiti Museum, Flat-Pack Whakapapa considers kinship, family and friendship networks as well as genetic heritage.
Building on the notion that our whakapaka is always with us, Dr Lander’s
installations can be packed down into individual weavings, transported, reconfigured and added to. Her approach symbolises how whakapapa grows with us, and how our genealogy is inherited by our descendants.
The representation of whakapapa as mobile supports the idea that while whanau might migrate from their turangawaewae they always carry their culture with them. Local weavers will have the opportunity to attend a master class run by Dr Lander.
They will be tasked with creating their own installation using patterns strongly linked to the Tairawhiti region.
